Today, FHFA announced the multifamily loan acquisition volume caps for the GSEs in 2022. Each Enterprise can acquire up to $78 billion in multifamily loans for the year, an increase from the $70 billion cap in place for 2021.
Fannie Mae continues to lead the market and keep our mission at the forefront, by providing a stable source of liquidity for financing multifamily rental housing even in challenging and disruptive times. We remain committed to financing affordable rental housing across the country. The FHFA cap for 2022 will provide opportunities to create and preserve even more affordable rental housing.
Some highlights from the release:
- At least 50% of the Enterprises’ multifamily business be mission-driven affordable housing. This is the same as the 2021 requirement.
- The percentage of units that must come from units affordable to residents at 60% area median income (AMI) or below has increased from 20% to 25%.
- FHFA has changed certain definitions of multifamily “mission-driven” affordable housing to include loans on affordable units in cost-burdened rental markets and loans to finance energy or water efficiency improvements with units affordable at or below 60% of AMI.
These changes will allow us to do even more in cost-burdened markets and help us target more deeply affordable units for sustainability enhancements.
FHFA has indicated that they will continue to monitor the impacts of COVID-19 on the multifamily mortgage market and may adjust the multifamily caps if warranted, but to prevent market disruption, will not reduce them.
We will share more information as it becomes available. The Multifamily Affordability Estimator (MAE) will be updated soon to reflect the new 2022 benchmarks. The new cap will also be discussed during the October 28 Business Update on The District. Check your email for more information and to add the Update to your calendar. As always, please reach out to your deal team with any questions.
Our continued partnership is what makes the DUS® model such a success. We look forward to continuing this journey together and serving the market in the coming year.
